Great Hill Dairy Tour

For years, Alex's grandmother lived in Marion, Massachusetts near Buzzard's Bay.  When visiting, Alex and his family always admired the Great Hill estate around the corner from her house.  About 10 years ago, Great Hill began producing artisan blue cheese. When I knew we were coming to Marion to visit, I contacted the good folks at Great Hill.  Though they don't have regular tours, Tim, the owner,  invited me to see the cheese making operation.

We entered through the lower bay of the barn.  Stacks of empty cheese boxes line the doorway.  Tim was out running errands, so Madeline offered to take us around.

Great Hill Blue cheese begins as raw unhomogenized milk collected from a few local dairies.  Two retired jersey cows live on the Great Hill estate, which used to house more milkers but focuses on cheese making now.

The raw milk is heated and broken with rennet.  Bacterial culture is added.  It is machine stirred in a big tank and simultaneously hand stirred by one of two master cheese makers.

After a time, the whey is drained and the curds are poured into molds.  They are hand turned up to six times to allow the weight of the curds to compact into a wheel.

Released from the mold, the cheese is now salted and pricked to allow the blue cheese culture to breathe.  The room where the fresh cheese were processed smelled like a sweet cream butter, in a word, amazing!

After a few weeks the culture starts to take hold.  The cheese wheels are moved between a few rooms to age for a total of 90 - 120 days.  The cheese makers sample regularly and are constantly honing their recipe to make a more consistent blue cheese.

Finally the cheese is packaged and sent all over the country.  "Bad boy" wheels are cleaned up with Tim's wedding cake cuter.  Great Hill really does every little thing by hand!

Great Hill sells directly to consumers online, but not at their dairy.  Madeline was nice enough to send us home with a gratis sample.

We enjoyed some of our cheese with crackers.  The flavor develops and is more well rounded when warm.  Great Hill is milder than some blue cheese, but still tangy.  If I weren't on vacation I would be making some into sauce, dressing, maybe even pasta.  But as it is, the cheese is disappearing quickly in afternoon cheese and wine plates.

Columbus-ites can pick up Great Hill blue cheese at Whole Foods and Hills Market.

Where the kitchen remodel stands

You'll notice something about this blog. The moment the kitchen became usable, all posting switched to food and gardening topics. That's not because we love writing about food and gardening more - it's because we haven't done a damn thing to finish the kitchen! Back in February, when we went to Florida, I took a slew of pictures documenting what the finish work remaining. I hoped to have time to blog there, but between the slow as molasses internet connection and exhaustion from vacationing, I didn't get a chance. Sadly, the pictures still reflect what is done and un-done.

Here's the rundown:

Cabinets, sink, and appliances installed!

Hole above the stove, still there:

Painting done!

Trim around floors, doors, and windows, not so much:

Flooring installed and finished!

Hand built concrete countertops, not yet:

I think that is all we have left. With the warming weather and growing garden it is difficult to discipline ourselves to do housework instead of yardwork. Maybe it would help if I give us a deadline and y'all can hold us accountable. How about June 15? The countertops will take time but I think 45 days is reasonable.

Thanks for all of you who have asked and/or visited to see progress. Maybe after it's all done we'll hold a kitchen grand opening party!

My friend the salad spinner

I was eating dinner with a friend today.  She asked how I prepared the micro green salad I served.  I said, simply, "Just wash in the salad spinner."  "What?" she said, genuinely not knowing what a salad spinner does. This isn't a story to make fun of her, because up until a few years ago, I had no use for a salad spinner either.  It seemed like a gimmicky one-use tool, precisely the kind of junk I try to avoid bringing into the kitchen.

Now that I'm consuming lots of fresh from the garden greens, I use a salad spinner almost daily.  I clean mint for cocktails, kale and greens for meals, and leaves for salad.

If you don't know, a salad spinner has a colander type bowl in which you place greens, herbs, or other unwashed leafy vegetables.  Veggies are rinsed with water in the colander.  Then, the colander bowl is placed inside a solid bowl and a lid with spinner is set on top.  A pump or pullstring spins the colander.  Water spins to the sides and collects in the solid bowl.  You are left with washed, dry fresh greens.

I have an OXO SoftWorks Little Salad and Herb Spinner.

It is perfect for making salads for two.  When I make a big salad for large family gatherings or potlucks I run two or three batches.  I prefer the small size because it fits easily in our kitchen cabinets.  We have used this with no sign of wear for over 3 years.

While I have not tested many other models, I can say I do not recommend the KitchenAid Professional Salad Spinner. My parents have this model.

The size is unwieldy and the design is overly complicated.  A lock mechanism is very difficult to un-secure and use.

Do you have a salad spinner?  Do you love it as much as I do?